Walgreens President of Pharmacy, Health & Wellness Kermit Crawford Announces Retirement from Company after 31 Years; Will Con...
24 July 2014 - 11:15PM
Business Wire
- Crawford to move forward to pursue new
roles following 31 years with Walgreens, while continuing service
to company as senior counselor to President and CEO Greg
Wasson
- Crawford to join University of Southern
California School of Pharmacy as Executive in Residence and Senior
Advisor to the Dean, while continuing to serve on its board of
councilors; also will broaden his role at American Diabetes
Association serving as National Chair for its Ad Council
campaign
- As architect of Walgreens key growth
strategy to advance the role of community pharmacy in health care,
Crawford helped launch the company into new century of service and
value creation, modernize retail pharmacy-led health and wellness
services in America, and meet the nation’s expanding need for
convenient, quality, affordable health care
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) (Nasdaq: WAG) today announced that
Kermit Crawford, president of Pharmacy, Health and Wellness, has
decided to retire after 31 years in a variety of advancing roles
with the company to take on new opportunities, including continuing
to serve as a senior counselor to Walgreens President and Chief
Executive Officer Greg Wasson. Crawford announced that he plans to
join the University of Southern California’s School of Pharmacy,
where will serve as Executive in Residence and Senior Advisor to
the Dean. Crawford currently is a member of the USC School of
Pharmacy’s board of councilors. He also will serve as National
Chair for the American Diabetes Association’s new Ad Council
campaign across the country. The association recently named him
volunteer of the year in his longtime role as a member of the
organization’s board for the Northern Illinois and Indiana region.
His retirement from Walgreens will be effective Dec. 31, 2014,
after which he will assume the role of senior counselor.
Kermit Crawford, Walgreens President of
Pharmacy, Health and Wellness, is retiring after 31 years with the
company. (Photo: Business Wire)
“After 31 years with Walgreens, starting as a pharmacy intern in
my 20s, the time is right to retire from the company to broaden my
horizons and seek new ways to serve,” Crawford said. “I love
Walgreens, cherish my years and friends here and the incredibly
dedicated people across the company. To me, community pharmacy has
long been an unsung hero in our health care system, helping primary
caregivers to provide convenient, affordable and essential health
and wellness services in neighborhoods across America. I look
forward to continuing to help Greg Wasson and the team to advance
the role of community pharmacy in health care as I also pursue
other opportunities to provide leadership in new areas.”
“Words cannot capture the magnitude of Kermit Crawford’s impact
on Walgreens and our people, on America’s retail pharmacy industry
and on the health and wellbeing of millions of customers and
patients we have been privileged to serve over the years,” Wasson
said. “Kermit has been so much more than a colleague – he has been
a mentor, a friend, an inspiration, a guiding light and the
architect and driver of Walgreens strategy to advance the role of
community pharmacy in America. Kermit has well positioned Walgreens
for the future, and I appreciate his willingness to serve as my
senior counselor and continue his remarkable influence on our
company and future – and I look forward to working together in our
new capacity.”
“We are thrilled that Kermit, as a longtime board member and
2013 Addison B. Scoville Awardee for Outstanding Volunteer Service,
will expand his role with us and serve as our National Chair for
the Ad Council campaign, continuing his extraordinary effort in the
fight to stop diabetes,” said Larry Hausner, chief executive
officer of the American Diabetes Association. “As one of our
National Service Achievement Award recipients, Kermit has already
made significant contributions to our cause. His impact has been
both personal – he has helped countless people through his efforts
– and nationwide in scope. We appreciate his continuing dedication
and leadership in his new capacity with us.”
“Having an individual of Kermit’s breadth of experience, his
expertise, his vision for professional practice in the future, and
his stature as one of the most admired and respected executives in
the pharmacy industry join the USC School of Pharmacy is an
incredible opportunity for the School,” said R. Pete Vanderveen,
PhD, RPh, Dean and John Stauffer Decanal Chair in Pharmaceutical
Sciences at the USC School of Pharmacy. “Kermit shares the School’s
passion for changing the professional role of the pharmacist and
will provide our students as well as the school with a great new
perspective on our profession with real-world vision and
application, as well as working with our team of health economists
at the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and
Economics. We are very excited to have Kermit’s experience,
expertise and inspiration at our school.”
Crawford began his career with Walgreens as a pharmacy intern in
1983. He advanced through company ranks, holding positions from
pharmacist to store and district manager to vice president of store
operations. In 2004, he was named Walgreens Health Services vice
president of PBM (pharmacy benefit management) services and, in
2005, was promoted to executive vice president of PBM services and
a corporate vice president for Walgreens, heading up all aspects of
strategic, operational and profit and loss management of the
company’s PBM covering more than 10 million lives.
Crawford was promoted to Walgreens senior vice president and
then executive vice president of pharmacy services in 2007 and
2010, respectively. In this role, he pioneered the effort to
transform community pharmacy from a transaction-based practice to
one focused on access to affordable, quality care. In September
2010, he was promoted to president of the division. In 2011, his
role was broadened to include leadership of all pharmacy, health
and wellness services.
Chain Drug Review honored Crawford in 2009 as the “Pharmacy
Executive of the Year.” In 2011, Chain Drug Review named Walgreens
“Retailer of the Year” and recognized Crawford among Walgreens top
five executives earning the distinction. In 2012, Savoy Magazine
named him one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate
America.” Also in 2012, Black Enterprise Magazine named Crawford
one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate
America.”
Crawford is a member of the board of directors of the Allstate
Corporation. He also serves on the board of directors of the
National Association of Chain Drug Stores and previously on its
Policy Council Committee. He is also on the board of directors of
Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and The Commercial Club of
Chicago, in addition to his service on the board of counselors at
the USC School of Pharmacy. Crawford earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in pharmacy from Texas Southern University in 1983, where he
ranked second in his graduating class.
About Walgreens
As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2013 sales
of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to be the
first choice in health and daily living for everyone in America,
and beyond. Each day, in communities across America, more than 8
million customers interact with Walgreens using the most
convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and
trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and
advice. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail,
specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with
online and mobile services. These services improve health outcomes
and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care
organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the
public sector. The company operates 8,215 drugstores in all 50
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. Walgreens digital business includes Walgreens.com,
drugstore.com, Beauty.com, SkinStore.com and VisionDirect.com. Take
Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that manages more
than 400 in-store convenient care clinics throughout the
country.
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WalgreensMichael Polzin,
847-315-2920http://news.walgreens.com@WalgreensNewsfacebook.com/Walgreens
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